Davian
Of Scandinavian origin meaning "beloved" or "cherished one".
Name Census estimates that about 6,603 living Americans carry the first name Davian. It is a predominantly male name (98.4% of registrations). The average person named Davian today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Davian births was 2007 (378 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Davian. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Davian with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Davian is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 105 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Davian is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
6.6K
~ 1 in 51,909 Americans
Peak year
2007
378 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,391
Tracked since 1970
Census
Davian in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,729 people with the first name Davian, which placed it at #4,089 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,089
National first-name rank
People counted
4.7K
4,729 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
52.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Davian
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Davian is Hispanic at 52.6%. The next largest groups are Black (25.9%) and White (10.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Davian described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Davian at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino52.6% · 2,487
- Black or African American25.9% · 1,224
- White10.8% · 511
- Two or more races6.5% · 306
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 128
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 73
Gender
Gender distribution for Davian
Davian leans heavily male at 98.4% of total registrations, but 105 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Davian as a male name
- Ranked #1,391 in 2024
- 134 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (378 births)
Davian as a female name
- Ranked #15,878 in 2022
- 5 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2000 (21 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Davian leans strongly male. 4,563 people counted with this name were male (96.5%), compared with 166 female bearers (3.5%).
Popularity
Davian: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Davian from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,609 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Davian remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Davian by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Davian during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Davians live
The SSA's state-level files cover 33 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Davian, while Oregon, Louisiana, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 143 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Davian
The name Davian has its roots in the ancient Aramaic language, which was widely spoken in the Middle East during the 6th century BC. It is derived from the word "davan," which means "judge" or "arbiter." The name's origin can be traced back to the region that is now modern-day Syria and Iraq.
Davian was a relatively uncommon name in ancient times, but it did appear in several historical records. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of ancient Jewish texts dating back to the 3rd century BC. In these scrolls, a man named Davian ben Eleazar is mentioned as a scribe and scholar.
In the 2nd century AD, a Christian martyr named Davian of Caesarea was executed during the reign of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus for refusing to renounce his faith. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church.
During the Middle Ages, the name Davian was quite rare, but it did appear in a few historical documents. One notable figure was Davian of Cremona, an Italian scholar and philosopher who lived in the 12th century. He was known for his work in translating and commenting on the writings of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.
In the 16th century, a French explorer and navigator named Davian de Chasteauval was one of the first Europeans to explore and map the coasts of modern-day Brazil and Argentina. His detailed charts and maps were instrumental in the early exploration and colonization of South America.
Another notable figure with the name Davian was an English playwright and poet named Davian Sandys, who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He is best known for his play "The Tragedy of Rosamund," which was performed before King James I in 1609.
While the name Davian has never been particularly common, it has been used throughout history in various cultures and regions. Its roots in the ancient Aramaic language and its association with themes of justice and scholarship have given it a sense of gravitas and historical significance.
People
Davian + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Davian as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Davian: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Davian?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,603 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Davian going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 51,909 US residents.
Is Davian a common name?
We classify Davian as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,680 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Davian most popular?
The single biggest year for Davian was 2007, when 378 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Davian is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Davian in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,729 people with the name Davian, or 1.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,089 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Davian in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Davian?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Davian leans strongly male. 4,563 people counted with this name were male (96.5%), compared with 166 female bearers (3.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Davian?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Davian is Hispanic at 52.6%. The next largest groups are Black (25.9%) and White (10.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Davian most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Davian in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.6% (2,487 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Davian in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Davian a male name?
Yes, 98.4% of people registered as Davian in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Davian still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Davian in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Davian can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Davian?
Want to know how many Americans are named Davian? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.